UK sends it's mightiest ship to take on Iran in the Gulf

Originally posted by Starling
Wrong!
Israel owns America..... and Britain.

Originally posted by JessopJessopJessop
The English don't pull the string. The City of London pulls the strings.

To see who's forcing WW3, check out the movie "Nazi Banksters' Crimes Ripple Effect". The name kind of gives some of it away, but it's got
counterfeit-Jews, Banksters, City of London, Bush-Nazi connections, and WW3 all wrapped up tightly together.

Sorry my comparisons were lame, I was just trying to get at the double standards that are being played out in this lead up to war. All because Iran is
supposedly developing a nuclear bomb. The same weapon possessed by numerous other countries with questionable intent.

I wasn't having a dig, but looking at the greater picture, and for me this has nothing to do with the bomb, but rather a pissing contest between the
greater powers..

Which has happened far to many times for my liking, and seems as tho no matter how advanced we think we are, we have yet to grow out of that phase of
greed and control

Roll things back to WW2 and Britain and Russia invaded Iran so the Nazis couldn't get the oil.. although allied neither side really wanted the other
to have the oil, which caused a whole heap of trouble at the end of the war.

Now that seems to me to be where the Americans got involved in kicking the Russians out, and then we had a reversal of that with the Russians.. and it
seems we are again looking at another pissing match

The History of the region reads like a ping pong match that has cost far to many people their lives in the process, with the Iranian peoples caught
bang in the middle.. as I said, my opinion is that it's sad we have no out grown that attitude.

Good points. Not to mention the logistical nightmare of having to supply a mobilization of that size overseas. I guess I was getting a little too
creative.

Under what circumstances do you see Russia and China going to war over? Would it be a "I want your land" type of invasion, or will it be nitpicking
each other for excuses? Would Russia even want to go to war with China?

Russia does not want to go to war with China. However, China does want Siberia and the Russian Far East Provinces; there are lots of
resources(minerals,oil,timber) there. Not to mention space,China is crowded. China is trying to dupe Russia into letting down its guard. If China sees
that Russia is distracted by some world event and has little chance of support it will invade to make a quick land grab. This will happen. I think
Russia's leaders are wise enough to see through China's deception. China needs to modernize its land forces a bit more before it does.
Russian troops are much tougher fighters than their Chinese counterparts so the Chinese should have their combat ratio at 5 to 1 verses the Russians.

Thanks for the info. I think I have a better understanding now. I wasn't knowledgeable of their feelings towards one another.

Do you have any ideas of what Russia's slip up might be? I can not off of the top of my head, think of a potential situation where Russia might be
distracted any time in the foreseeable future. So I assume this may not be happening for a while?

Its hard to say but they are focused on the Middle East, especially Syria, at the moment. I think the biggest mistake that Russia could make would be
giving up anymore of its territory to China in border dispute negotiations. Each time the two countries have done this Russia lost territory. This may
make Russia seem weak and they would be wise to steer away from any future negotiations with China on border issues. Russia should concentrate on
developing its economic strength and continuing the modernization of its military. It may also need to rethink its adversarial role with the West.
Lastly, Russia should stop selling some of its best military hardware to China.

It's really no big deal. It's a destroyer REPLACING one that is already there. It's a fine ship, just a tad bit smaller than the Arleigh-Burke
class destroyers that are standard American issue. (8,000 tonnes displacement vs. 9,000). In other words, this does not constitute any kind of
escalation.

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
Didn't the British Navy get destroyed by a pair of subsonic exocets? Ones that cost a few thousand bucks that ripped apart the HMS Sheffield?

Jeebus, you're a plank sometimes.

No, the RN didn't get "destroyed". We lost a couple of ships to a very good missile and in an era where CIWS didn't even exist! That said, the
Argentine fighters who launched the missiles got mauled (over 100 Argentine aircraft lost during the war) with no loss from the Harrier force.

Compare that to the Exocet fired in 1991 at the USS Missouri, which a Royal Navy Frigate shot down before it hit the Battleship, which wasn't
equipped to deal with the threat itself. Saved hundreds of US lives there.

Originally posted by Vitchilo
I know all about mines sweepers... but thing is, mines historically have a pretty good hit rate.

RN minesweepers are built out of a non-metallic fibre glass hull, so are pretty invisible to most mines. The RN also has quite a lot of practice in
minesweeping..We still find German mines around our coasts to this day.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
Is Iran really a threat to the UK? I mean if Iranian ships were heading over to the British waters, everyone would be demanding we blow them out of
the sea, yet we think it's cool to just go and intimidate another country with our Navy and should our Navy come under any attack, we will be
demanding the destruction of Iran.

In all fairness, Iran is threatening to shut an international waterway which is vital to our economy. Regardless of your views on Iranian nuclear
power, such an action cannot be allowed to happen. It's not as if we're in their waters and we have every right to be there, as they do, if they so
wished, to sail up the Channel.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr

Originally posted by michael1983l
So the UK will now have the most advanced submarine in the world (HMS Astute) and the most advanced Destroyer in the world (HMS Daring) off the
Straight of Homuoz. And people say that the Brits are a bankrupt nation falling to pieces

We are a bankrupt nation. the figures don't lie. It's great that we can spend money on weapons of war when we don't have it, but stuff the
pensioners who have to choose between heating and eating and lets sack more care assistants and youth workers so we can buy more weapons.

We're not even remotely bankrupt, it's all media/Labour hype, which is ironic as it was Labour's "spend willy-nilly" policies that put us here in
the first place. Our debt is amongst the lowest in Europe and the world, Japan has lived with around 180% GDP debt for over a decade, Germany is on
around 90% GDP, we're only 70%.

Originally posted by Pervius
It would have been cheaper for England to hire the Sea Shepherd to keep the Iranian Navy at bay.

Iran has no Navy. Iran's last home made ship they made themselves and displayed to the world...is a joke.

Ironically, the bulk of the Iranians larger ships are either built by or based upon British designs from the 60's and 70's.

Originally posted by babybunnies
Given the recent cutbacks in UK military funding, I'm surprised that the UK's "most formidable ship" isn't a rowboat with a couple of kids and a
pellet gun.

I mean, HMS Ark Royal is being sold for scrap metal for God's sake.

Common misconception. The UK armed forces are as formidable as ever and by the end of the decade will be even more so. We built an Empire with an army
smaller than the one we have today.

Originally posted by scotsdavy1
I love it when it's the 'English Navy' and the English will fight etc
Do you forget that UK is combined with English, Scottish Welsh and Irsh that are in the Forces here?
Same as the English Queen!
Then again, if the English get their ship sunk it will be up to the UK to sort it out I suppose?

Winds me up too.. Never the less, it is usually British when going well, but if things go bad it's always "the English" that get mentioned. You
Scots get off, well, Scot free!

In my opinion, I think the West would eventually side with Russia against China. China,not Russia, is being taken as a more serious threat to world
security,in the near future,than Russia is(at least by the West). If past history serves as indicator than the U.S. will definitely side with Russia.
We almost joined the Soviet Union in a preemptive strike on China's fledgling nuclear missile program back in the 1960s. Although, I think China is
going to have a tough go at it. Russian soldiers are formidable fighters,especially defending the Motherland. A Chinese invasion of Siberia, would
more than likely, cause the dissolution of the Communist Party and perhaps lead to the unification of Korea. North Korea would be extremely isolated
in such an event without China's support. Thus, I think it is very likely that the West would come in on Russia's side in such a conflict. The
benefits of the world without a communist China or North Korea far out weigh the risks.

stumason,
I want to thank you for you contribution to this thread. I am glad when people who actually know something about history post here. As an American, I
am thankful for the how much the British have helped the U.S. in its military endeavors. The Falkland Island War was a one-sided British victory. The
Royal Navy is the benchmark that all other navies in the world have to compare themselves to. I am proud of my county's navy but I look at the Royal
Navy as the paragon of navies in the world.

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